June 21, 2008

Perks of a Demanding Job

This morning I woke up at 5:30AM (I got to sleep an hour later) on the couch in my living room. I turned on the TV to create some noise and dragged upstairs to begin my morning ritual. I showered, brushed my teeth, and pulled my hair up off my neck--it was going to be a long day. I said my daily affirmations "Girl, you are FABULOUS. This will be a GREAT day" and grabbed my stuff. I was out the door by 6:30, went to pick up my carpool buddy, and made my daily stop at the local McDonald's.

Once there, I ordered my regular coffee (plus 4 creams, 5 sugars) and the young lady at the window decided to fill my cup up only 3/4 of the way. I reminded her that I like my coffee like I like my men (big and strong). She smirked and kept pouring. I sipped and let the contentment and sweet coffee slowly warm my soul. By 7:30 I had reached my destination. Today we are on Day 2 of setting up all the fixtures in one of our brand new stores (all 120,000 sq. ft of it) that opens in July. It is a physically demanding task and as a captain, I led a team of 222 people from 7:30AM until 6:30PM constantly giving direction, answering questions, boosting morale, and walking around. I am absolutely exhausted.

I got home around 7:30, ate, showered, poured a frosty adult beverage, and was getting mentally prepared to do it again tomorrow when I came across this article from The Donald himself.

Trump points out some of the benefits of having a demanding job:

"Mentally demanding jobs come with an extra big perk: they keep you mentally sharp even as you age. Day-to-day work that requires negotiation, analysis, and decision-making builds up something called your “cognitive reserve” which is a level of mental function that helps you avoid mental decline.

So while you’re solving problems and planning, organizing and strategizing with tough clients, you might feel like your brain is going to explode. In reality, however, you’re warding off dementia"

Seth G. talked about superheroes the other day and I think I just found my superpower: warding off dementia! Not much, but I'll take it! Goodnight and sweet dreams...